GM's Mainstreet In Motion

[BigAls87Z28]

I have been to a few of these in the past, but if you would like a chance to have some seat time in some new GM vehicles, sign up here: http://www.mainstreetinmotion.com/

They are gunna be at Giants Stadium in a few weeks, so sign up! There are 3 days, I think I will go on the 30th.

[Blackbirdws6]

Signed up for the Saturday event at the stadium.

[BigAls87Z28]

guess...not

[NJ Torque]

GF and I are signed up for Sunday...

[Tru2Chevy]

Definitely interested, just not available when they will be nearby.

- Justin

[crainholio]

Signed up for the 29th!

[qwikz28]

Definitely interested, just not available when they will be nearby.

- Justin

Same. Sucks too because I really want some seat time in the Volt or the new Bu if it will be there.

[ws6 jim]

I'm signed up for this Sunday at citizens bank park

[12secondv6]

Signed up for sunday at noon

[crainholio]

I showed @ Meadowlands Stadium today as scheduled, stood in the looooong registration line for over 1/2 hour while it moved maybe 10ft the whole time, bailed out.

Presumed that was an indicator of how the event was going....stand in a long line to drive a car, stand in another long line to drive another car, etc.

On the upside, great lunch @ Sonic on the way home!

edit: With GM's government bootlicker CEO pushing to have our gas taxes raised, I'm not buying their stuff until he's gone anyway but it looked like a great way to kill a Sat morning.

[BigAls87Z28]

Ahhh...yeah, you don't know what you are talking about.

GM has invested a LOT OF MONEY into making small cars like Cruze, and even more money in hybrid/electric vehicles like the Volt. Bob Lutz, who is not a government boot licker, also promotes a massive gas tax increase to "be on par with the Europeans" because things like CAFE are NOT going to make America stop using gas, it will only force the automakers to spend tons of money in making the technology to hit these levels.

When gas hit 4 dollars a gallon, people started to rethink what they really needed from a car, and that maybe a Suburban to haul around the one kid might be too much. Now that gas is up here again, people are starting to realize that they don't need large cars. This is done not with government intervention, and people are flocking to more fuel efficient vehicles, as evident by last months sales numbers.

You don't want to buy a GM car because the government has about 30% share in their vehicle, you should also stay away from Ford, since their whole company is owned by the banks, who recieved a government money.
Or Chrysler, who is now totally owned by Fiat, which the Italian government owns a portion of.

Only in America, is it odd to see the government own a portion of one of the largest, and in America's case, only manufacturing sector.


If you are worried about government ownership of a company that is producing cars that were designed and green lit back in 2006, then so be it.

[crainholio]

Ahhh...yeah, you don't know what you are talking about.


Actually, I don't know what you're talking about.

GM CEO Dan Akerson said:

...now what I'd rather have them do ... this will make my Republican friends puke ... as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas," he said in an interview, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.


Whatever his motive, be it selling more cars, selling more small cars, or Fighting Global Warming er, uh Climate Change...he can suck it.

Corporate Cronyism is a poor way to run a business. If he can't run GM at a profit without government mandated gas price hikes then he's in the wrong line of work.

edit: As for the rest of your canned argument...go clean up your fail. I neither said nor implied anything to do with gov't ownership of GM. This is strictly about Akerson trying to get the government to artificially inflate the price of gas.

[BonzoHansen]

You should probably consider context. He knows that the only way demand for cars that will match crazy stupid CAFE standards is high gas prices. CAFE is the real problem, point your anger there. The majority of Americans do not want Aveos. He knows if GM does not sell enough high MPG cars then they cannot sell trucks & Camaros. It is simple math.

And yes, his job is to sell cars & make money. He is CEO.

[crainholio]

You should probably consider context. He knows that the only way demand for cars that will match crazy stupid CAFE standards is high gas prices. CAFE is the real problem, point your anger there. The majority of Americans do not want Aveos. He knows if GM does not sell enough high MPG cars then they cannot sell trucks & Camaros. It is simple math.

And yes, his job is to sell cars & make money. He is CEO.

Sounds like the CEO should point his anger at the CAFE standards, if he's concerned about his ability to make and sell cars at a profit.

Instead, bootlicker demands we be robbed to help him comply.

And when I use the term "robbed" I'm talking about all the places high gas prices hit us, not just the pump.

[BonzoHansen]

All the automakers are fighting cafe changes. But he knows they will lose a good part of that fight.

[crainholio]

Only in America, is it odd to see the government own a portion of one of the largest, and in America's case, only manufacturing sector.


Just coming back to this nugget o' wisdom...are you saying that the automobile is the only "manufacturing sector" in the US?

(actually, manufacturing is a sector in and of itself but I won't argue semantics.)

[crainholio]

All the automakers are fighting cafe changes. But he knows they will lose a good part of that fight.

If he's more comfortable shaking down citizens than pushing back on the federal government, all the more reason for me to stay clear of GM while he's running it.

[LS1ow]

everyone thats goin to this, you cars are 3/4 of a mile from my house. lol

[BonzoHansen]

If he's more comfortable shaking down citizens than pushing back on the federal government, all the more reason for me to stay clear of GM while he's running it.

If you think gm its the only company discussing that you're naive. He's just the only one that mentioned it in public

[crainholio]

If you think gm its the only company discussing that you're naive. He's just the only one that mentioned it in public

I'm not so naive as to believe similar discussions haven't happened in board rooms elsewhere, good point.

Surely you're not so naive as to believe that discussion in private has the same impact as making a public demand such as Akerson has done.

I respect the guy's right to free speech, but he gave up a quote which can, and no doubt will, be cited in Washington as cause to take action and try to pass a federal gas tax hike.

[crainholio]

everyone thats goin to this, you cars are 3/4 of a mile from my house. lol

You ought to go by and spectate the cone course they're running, plenty of Vettes and Camaros mixed in with the econo-boxes.

[Blackbirdws6]

Gina and I went today and got there early. We breezed through registration and got to drive all the cars we wanted. We didn't bother driving everything but we got a good mix. The Volt was the biggest surprise and Gina and I both came away pretty impressed. I laid rubber in the Corvette GS which was the biggest thrill. The Traverse was a let down even though we didn't expect much.

[BigAls87Z28]

I'm not so naive as to believe similar discussions haven't happened in board rooms elsewhere, good point.

Surely you're not so naive as to believe that discussion in private has the same impact as making a public demand such as Akerson has done.

I respect the guy's right to free speech, but he gave up a quote which can, and no doubt will, be cited in Washington as cause to take action and try to pass a federal gas tax hike.


You think that because the Government owns part of GM, that Akerson was forced to say something like that?
Like I said before, Bob Lutz, the man that brought us the 3 series, the Viper, Camaro, the ZR1, GTO, G8, CTS-V coupe, sedan, and wagon, Solstice and Sky along with turbo variants, turbo Cobalt and HHR, and the next generation Corvette, twin turbo V6, and Gen V small blocks, would rather see higher taxes on gas then see CAFE, since CAFE is a crock of ****, at least it was in the 70's.
CAFE does not curb appitite for gas guzzling cars, as we can clearly see that everyone here owns or owned something V8 powered.
In the grand scheme of things, to reduce consumption, you raise the price. You know why Europe has some of the nicest roads in the world? Because they have high taxes on the fuel to make them so.
If gas remained high, people would demand cars that got better MPG. With CAFE, GM and the rest spend billions of dollars on making the cars and trucks you want to buy more efficent, but you will still buy that Suburban.
Bob Lutz and Dan Akerson are both huge hard-core republicans, and they do not like the fact that the government had to step in, but if you read Bob Lutz's book, you will see that the ATF team that was put in there to see if GM was on the right track, DROOOOLED all over the CTS-V, and just gave a nod of approval to cars like the Equinox and Cruze.

Stop with the dramatic conspiracy that the government is here to control what you drive. The government cannot wait to get rid of GM, and vice versa, not because they cannot stand one another, but for the image that people like yourself project in your mind about the company.

Gina and I went today and got there early. We breezed through registration and got to drive all the cars we wanted. We didn't bother driving everything but we got a good mix. The Volt was the biggest surprise and Gina and I both came away pretty impressed. I laid rubber in the Corvette GS which was the biggest thrill. The Traverse was a let down even though we didn't expect much.

I am glad you guys went. The Volt is a very impressive car, did you put it into sport mode at all? I should have text you details on making it even more impressive.

[crainholio]

Al, you really need to have somebody help you with your reading.

Nowhere have I mentioned the government's part-ownership of GM, nor have I assigned any belief in a government conspiracy to control what I drive.

You are either inventing facts to help your argument, or simply can not read through all the spittle on your screen.

I just called out Akerson for demanding that the gov't shake us down for $$. Plain and simple. Whatever his motive...CAFE compliance, selling more cars, selling smaller cars...it is unacceptable to me.

I typed that slowly, so you could keep up while reading it. :)


You think that because the Government owns part of GM, that Akerson was forced to say something like that?
Like I said before, Bob Lutz, the man that brought us the 3 series, the Viper, Camaro, the ZR1, GTO, G8, CTS-V coupe, sedan, and wagon, Solstice and Sky along with turbo variants, turbo Cobalt and HHR, and the next generation Corvette, twin turbo V6, and Gen V small blocks, would rather see higher taxes on gas then see CAFE, since CAFE is a crock of ****, at least it was in the 70's.
CAFE does not curb appitite for gas guzzling cars, as we can clearly see that everyone here owns or owned something V8 powered.
In the grand scheme of things, to reduce consumption, you raise the price. You know why Europe has some of the nicest roads in the world? Because they have high taxes on the fuel to make them so.
If gas remained high, people would demand cars that got better MPG. With CAFE, GM and the rest spend billions of dollars on making the cars and trucks you want to buy more efficent, but you will still buy that Suburban.
Bob Lutz and Dan Akerson are both huge hard-core republicans, and they do not like the fact that the government had to step in, but if you read Bob Lutz's book, you will see that the ATF team that was put in there to see if GM was on the right track, DROOOOLED all over the CTS-V, and just gave a nod of approval to cars like the Equinox and Cruze.

Stop with the dramatic conspiracy that the government is here to control what you drive. The government cannot wait to get rid of GM, and vice versa, not because they cannot stand one another, but for the image that people like yourself project in your mind about the company.

[crainholio]

Bob Lutz and Dan Akerson are both huge hard-core republicans...

Akerson is a "hard-core republican"?

I hate to mess up a good rant, but according to the Federal Election Commission Akerson is such a hard-core Republican that he gave campaign contributions to the following:


PETERS, GARY (D, MI)
VIA PETERS FOR CONGRESS
10/21/2010 1000.00 10931927902

CLELAND, JOSEPH MAXWELL (D, GA)
VIA FRIENDS OF MAX CLELAND FOR THE US SENATE INC
03/29/2001 1000.00 22020020010

STABENOW, DEBBIE MS (D,MI)
VIA STABENOW FOR US SENATE
05/02/2011 2500.00 11020283344
05/02/2011 2500.00 11020283356

SESTAK, JOSEPH A JR (D, PA)
VIA SESTAK FOR SENATE
09/03/2010 2400.00 10020813996

DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
10/05/2004 10000.00 24962680137

[Blackbirdws6]

I am glad you guys went. The Volt is a very impressive car, did you put it into sport mode at all? I should have text you details on making it even more impressive.

Through natural intuition and your telepathic ability, I put it into sport mode without any assistance from GM staff prior to pulling away lol. I was learning everything quickly and appreciated all the screens with what appeared to be useful data. Additionally, we drove the turbo regal and while we liked the entire car, I was wishing for a touch more bottom end gusto. The car felt lazy to rev but this wasn't the case in the Cruze LTZ which did its best to move out with little conviction at low speeds.

[BigAls87Z28]

Only Regal Turbo I drove was the manual one, and by the sound of it, it makes all the difference. The GS should be a big improvement as it will pack another 50hp over the standard turbo. Hopefully that shows up for testing in September sometime.

If you get a chance again, put the Volt into sport mode, and then put the shifter in low....because race car.

[Blacdout96]

So.....when are they coming out with a Regal GN/GNX ? :D

[BigAls87Z28]

Production starts later this year, price was just released today actually, 35,150.

I hope to get one in Sept/October, our editor in chief is going to drive it in late August.

[NJ Torque]

Went on Sunday... Denali HD and SD were real nice...